It's not every day that the President's Office of the Bahrain Information Affairs Authority of goes to the trouble of sending me an email informing me that one of the kingdom's more elderly citizens has died of a heart attack – but it happened yesterday.
Ali Hassan Al-Daihi, aged 78, "had reportedly fainted at home and injured his lower lip," the email said.

Mr Daihi was taken to hospital, "fully conscious and said to be in a stable condition". He medical file showed he had been suffering from heart problems and he underwent an echocardiography test "but was later admitted to the Intensive Care Unit after suffering a heart attack just before midnight on Wednesday. He died of a heart attack and hypertension early yesterday morning."

There is, however, a reason why people might be interested in the cause of Mr Daihi's death – hence the email. He was the father of Hussein al-Daihi, secretary-general of the opposition al-Wefaq party, and the party says he died of wounds inflicted by the riot police.

His funeral was held yesterday and according to Reuters teargas was used when demonstrators clashed with the security forces. The authorities also reportedly blocked roads in an effort to prevent people from attending the funeral.

On Friday, the US State Department called for "full transparency" in investigating what happened to Mr Daihi and urged everyone to "exercise restraint". "We understand that in connection with the circumstances of the father's death, the family has now filed a criminal complaint with the Bahraini police," a spokeswoman said.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 5 November 2011.